Fiona Onasanya: Disgraced Labour MP loses seat in Peterborough sparking by-election

Fiona Onasanya was elected as a Labour MP
PA

Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya has been forced out in her Peterborough constituency following a recall petition.

A spokeswoman for Peterborough City Council said that 19,261 people signed the recall petition, amounting to 27.64 per cent of those eligible to sign.

"This means that the petition is successful and the Peterborough parliamentary seat is now vacant," said the council in a statement.

Ms Onasanya, 35, who was elected as a Labour MP, served just 28 days of a three-month prison sentence for lying about who was driving her car when it was caught speeding in July 2017.

File photo: Fiona Onasanya, right, arrives at the Old Bailey, London for sentencing
PA

The trained solicitor was released from prison in February and has continued to receive her £77,379 salary.

The petition secured the signatures of more than 10 per cent of registered voters in Ms Onasanya's Peterborough constituency, forcing a by-election in which the former MP may stand.

It opened on March 19 and her constituents have had six weeks to sign it before it closed at 5pm today.

Commons Speaker John Bercow also confirmed the recall petition had been successful.

He told MPs: "I must advise the House that I have received notification from the petition officer for the constituency of Peterborough, in respect of the recall petition for Fiona Onasanya.

Fiona Onasanya's brother Festus was jailed for 10 months
PA

"The recall petition process for the constituency of Peterborough, established under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, closed today at 5pm.

"As more than 10 per cent of those eligible signed the petition have done so, I advise the House that the petition was successful.

"Fiona Onasanya is no longer the member for Peterborough and the seat is accordingly vacant.

"She can therefore no longer participate in any parliamentary proceedings as a Member of Parliament."

Nigel Farage said his new Brexit Party would contest the by-election.

File photo: The MP was expelled from the Labour Party after her conviction (Joe Giddens/PA )
Joe Giddens/PA

He tweeted: "I can confirm that @brexitparty-uk will fight the Peterborough by-election. We will give it our best shot."

Ms Onasanya was elected for Labour in the Cambridgeshire city in 2017 by just 607 votes, but was expelled from Labour after her conviction.

Labour chairman Ian Lavery said: "Labour campaigned hard for a victory in this recall petition.

"The people of Peterborough clearly agree that Fiona Onasanya is not fit to be their MP and we're delighted they will now have the chance to vote for a Labour MP in our excellent candidate, Lisa Forbes.

"Labour will move the writ tomorrow. Labour will vigorously fight the by-election here in Peterborough."

File photo: Fiona Onasanya challenged her conviction but her appeal was rejected
PA

Conservative parliamentary candidate for Peterborough Paul Bristow said: "The people of Peterborough deserve a better MP who will vote in Parliament to deliver Brexit.

"I'm delighted this result gives local people the chance to make their voices heard and vote for a better MP - and it will be a choice between Jeremy Corbyn's Labour candidate and me. We have had a Labour MP who hasn't improved the prospects of the local community and has consistently voted against delivering the referendum result to leave the EU."

She resisted calls to stand down from Parliament, sitting as an independent as she spent one month of a three-month sentence behind bars at Bronzefield prison near Ashford, Surrey.

She was not subject to automatic removal as an MP as her sentence was less than 12 months.

Ms Onasanya was convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey in December and had the Court of Appeal reject a challenge against her conviction.

She was convicted after a retrial when jurors heard her car was clocked speeding at 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney, near Peterborough, in July 2017, but a man who was in Russia at the time of the offence was put down as the driver on the notice of intended prosecution sent back to police.

Onasanya’s brother Festus admitted filling out the form and was jailed for 10 months after he pleaded guilty to two other similar offences.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT